Journal of Linguistics and Language Teaching
Volume 14 (2023) Issue 1
Key Stage 3 ELT Coursebook Speech Acts
Liam D. Wilson (Hong Kong S.A.R.)
Abstract
The area of pragmatics is an important aspect of the languages that we use in our everyday lives. Speech acts are central to this, and they are often initially presented to language learners in the coursebooks (or textbooks) they read and use during their schooling. This investigation analysed which speech acts were targeted for instruction in junior secondary 3 English language coursebooks used in Hong Kong as learners complete Key Stage 3. The pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic information presented in these coursebooks was also examined. It was found that certain speech acts (such as advice) were featured far more frequently than others (such as requests). There is also potential for improvement for future coursebooks when it comes to the pragmalinguistic (such as presenting speech acts as part of model dialogues) and sociopragmatic information (such as presenting speech acts being used in situations involving power distance or level of imposition). Therefore, this research contributes valuable findings regarding the speech acts in ELT coursebooks to the field of second language pragmatics.
Keywords: Speech acts, pragmalinguistic, sociopragmatic, ELT, coursebooks, key stage 3
1 Introduction
The primary area of investigation in this research is the speech acts that are targeted for instruction in English Language Teaching (ELT) coursebooks (or textbooks). The secondary area is the pragmalinguistic description presented, and the third is the sociopragmatic description. Since reading the content of coursebooks is often one of the main ways in which learners observe model examples of their target language, this study focused on coursebooks which are commonly used as learners complete Key Stage 3 at the junior secondary 3 level in Hong Kong.
1.1 Theoretical Background
Austin and Searle pioneered speech act theory in the 1960s and 1970s (Paltridge 2012). This theory was centred on the idea that language can be used to achieve practical goals. A crucial aspect of speech act theory is the idea of felicity conditions, the idea that if we want our speech acts to be successful in achieving their goals, certain conditions must be met (Austin 1962). These conditions include the interlocutors involved, the context, the timing, and the intention of the person using the speech act (Paltridge 2012).
The theoretical rationale for this study also involves interactionist approaches, particularly the noticing hypothesis, which relates to how learners acquire L2 pragmatics. Schmidt’s (1993) noticing hypothesis is vital to the concept of teaching and learning how to use speech acts using ELT coursebooks. The noticing hypothesis (Schmidt 1993)
… emphasizes the role of awareness and consciousness in promoting the entry of declarative knowledge into learners’ systems. Hence, the initial phase of input selection and attentional condition is the primary concern of the noticing hypothesis. (Taguchi & Roever 2017: 100)
All linguists are in agreement that some input, such as speech acts presented and targeted for instruction in ELT coursebooks, is needed in order for learners to acquire a second language. According to the noticing hypothesis (Schmidt 1990), the coursebooks analysed in this investigation provide this type of viable source of input. However, this input must be used by the learners, thereby becoming intake, but all of this can only eventuate if the input is noticed first (Schmidt 1993). When considering the area of pragmatics, Schmidt (1993) pointed out that input can only become intake by noticing if learners are aware of, not merely the linguistic forms, but also functional meanings and specific requirements of each individual context (cited in Taguchi & Roever 2017: 53). Even with enhancement, merely exposing learners to input is not likely to lead to the effective acquisition of pragmatic knowledge, as even the appropriate linguistic realisations can be unclear to learners because of sociolinguistic details which can be challenging to grasp (Kasper & Blum-Kulka 1993: 35). Even though noticing is not enough to make this happen by itself, we need noticing to occur to have any chance of input becoming intake (Schmidt 1995, cited in Taguchi & Roever, 2017: 56) Consequently, the
… primary concern of the noticing hypothesis is the initial phase of input selection and the attentional condition required for its selection. (Taguchi & Roever 2017: 53)
When educators choose ELT coursebooks that they deem to be suitable for their learners, this is an obvious example of this input selection. Furthermore, Schmidt went on to add that we need to pay attention to any vital pragmalinguistic or sociopragmatic information if we want to learn pragmatics effectively (Kasper & Blum-Kulka 1993: 35).
The learning of pragmatics can begin with the noticing of pragmalinguistic forms as input and then progress to understanding where learners relate those forms to their functions and related sociopragmatic elements (Taguchi & Roever 2017: 58). To learn pragmatics in an additional language,
… attention to linguistic forms, functional meanings, and the relevant contextual features is required. (Schmidt quoted in Kasper & Blum-Kulka 1993: 35)
2 Literature Review
2.1 Pragmatics
Crystal’s (1997) definition of pragmatics was
the study of language from the point of view of users, especially the choices they make … and the effects their use of language has on other participants. (quoted in Siegel et al. 2018: 1)
Studies such as that of Economidou-Kogetsidis (2015) have found that a lack of pragmatic awareness, and the possible resulting pragmatic failure, is a common issue when it comes to using English for important purposes, such as emailing university instructors to make requests. The need for explicit instruction to improve levels of pragmatic awareness has been identified (Bouton 1993). Instructed pragmatics is the study of speech act development in instructional contexts (Flowerdew 2012: 87f). Interlanguage pragmatics involves the ways that students learn to use additional languages (Roever 2014: 295).
2.2 Speech Acts
In keeping with speech act theory, speech acts involve
… the functional, or communicative, value of utterances, with language used to perform actions…” such as requesting, inviting, or offering. (Flowerdew 2012: 79)
With speech acts, we must consider the locutionary act, the illocutionary act and the perlocutionary act (Austin 1962). The locutionary act is the literal meaning of the words used, the illocutionary act involves the speaker’s reason or intention for using a speech act, and the perlocutionary act refers to the effect a speech act can have on the thoughts or actions of others (Paltridge 2012: 40)).
Following the work of Austin (1962), Searle (1976) developed five categories for speech acts (Flowerdew 2012). Representatives are generally used to describe or give opinions regarding the state of the world. Directives attempt to encourage the hearer to do something, through speech acts such as suggesting, advising, or requesting. Commissives are used to express the speaker’s commitment to doing something, like offering or promising. Expressives are used to show the feelings of the speaker, such as thanking to show appreciation or apologising to show regret and/or sympathy. Declarations use first-person singular/plural subjects and the verb which names the action of their speech act to declare a change in a certain state of affairs (Flowerdew 2012: 84).
2.2.1 Pragmalinguistic Knowledge
Pragmalinguistic knowledge involves the actual grammar and vocabulary needed to perform speech acts (Flowerdew 2012: 86). This is in keeping with the noticing hypothesis, as the grammatical form of the input must be consciously noticed in order to acquire the ability to use necessary grammar (Schmidt 1993; 26). Realisation patterns are the actual wording used to exercise strategies (Flowerdew 2012: 84ff). This can involve selecting appropriate modal verbs when attempting the speech act of requests (Can you …? / Could you …?) or small details such as the titles (Ms., Dr.) used to address others. Pragmalinguistic failure is frequently caused by the speaker translating the speech act from their first language (Lee 2018: 5).
The linguistic realisations used to perform speech acts can be direct, where the wording is commonly associated with that specific speech act, or indirect (Searle 1976: 60). Conventionally indirect speech acts use linguistic realisations commonly associated with a second speech act to perform the first. Non-conventionally indirect speech acts can be very subtle hints at which speech act the speaker is actually trying to perform. Not only non-conventionalised phrases but also conventionalised phrases can be confusing for learners, as the same ones can be used to perform different speech acts (Flowerdew 2012: 82).
2.2.2 Sociopragmatic Knowledge
Sociopragmatic knowledge is the other type of knowledge required to perform speech acts effectively, and this involves the ability to choose appropriate strategies to achieve a pragmatic goal (Flowerdew 2012: 86). Some learners might be able to control their grammar and vocabulary quite proficiently but may struggle with pragmatic uses of it, like those expressed through speech acts (Cohen 1996). As suggested by meaning-based theories and the noticing hypothesis, even if English grammar is used flawlessly, if appropriate expressions are not used in certain contexts, it might not necessarily lead to felicitous communication. This involves factors such as being aware of the relationships between interlocutors. L2 learners must be able to achieve their goals appropriately as social actors who are aware of sociocultural factors (Economidou-Kogetsidis 2015: 416). L2 learners might want to know more about how native English speakers expect certain speech acts to be performed, especially as this can have a huge effect on their lives (Nguyen & Basturkmen 2021: 148).
2.3 ELT Coursebooks
ELT coursebooks which are read and used in schools can be the source of some learners’ first-ever insights into any aspects of English-speaking societies (McKay 2018). The varying norms in different languages and cultures are an important reason why pragmatics, including speech acts, should be a key focus of coursebook improvement (Limberg 2016: 705f). However, a lot of ELT coursebooks seem to focus more on pragmalinguistic knowledge than sociopragmatic, and this situation should be improved (Boxer & Pickering 1995).
Coursebooks usually feature some speech acts, but oftentimes, certain other speech acts or language functions are not included, at all (Bardovi-Harlig 2001). Prior research has suggested that ELT coursebooks often fail to provide enough sociopragmatic information, including when or why we should use a certain speech act and which linguistic realisations would be most appropriate (Nguyen 2011). Cohen (1996) found that ELT coursebooks tended to focus on one main linguistic realisation for each speech act. If alternatives were included at all, sociopragmatic information on when to use each expression was not evident. In other studies involving speech acts in ELT coursebooks, Diepenbroek & Derwing (2013) and Ulum (2015) found that some of the coursebooks they analysed included speech acts frequently, but that again there was often a lack of context and information presented regarding when to use which expressions.
2.4 The Hong Kong Context
Cantonese is the first language of the majority of the citizens of Hong Kong. Clearly, there are major differences between Cantonese and English, so optimal presentation of speech acts in ELT coursebooks is vital. During a large-scale project on the authenticity of the content of coursebooks in Hong Kong, Cheng et al. (2007, 2010) found potential areas for improvement, including an over-emphasis on the importance of the speech act of complaints (Lam et al. 2014: 70f). Managers at an airline were also found to realise some directive speech acts in different ways, depending on whether they were of either Chinese or Western descent (Lam et al. 2014). This further suggests the importance of effective coursebooks for learners of English, whether they are from Hong Kong or elsewhere. A prior study (Wilson, 2023) analysed speech acts in textbooks used both at secondary school and primary 6 levels and found that there was limited variety in the different speech acts targeted for instruction, as well as a general lack of pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic information included.
2.5 Aims and Research Questions
Coursebooks are certainly useful for ELT, but the need for some improvement of the content of many of them has been noted. Furthermore, the effective use of speech acts in English is often vital for learners in their studies and future careers. Students often struggle with pragmatics and using appropriate or clear speech acts, such as requests. It is possible that the inadequate presentation of speech acts in coursebooks used in their prior studies may have contributed to this type of pragmatic failure.
Within the field of pragmatics, there have been some studies on the use of speech acts (Basturkmen & Nguyen 2017, Ren & Han 2016). However, more research is needed into the presentation of speech acts in a wider range of ELT coursebooks (Jalilian & Roohani 2016). It is a common practice for studies to try to follow up on previous ones by observing any changes over time or by noting any variation in different contexts or on different levels. Therefore, this study aims to supplement the previous research on speech acts, this time in textbooks commonly used at the level of junior secondary 3 in schools in Hong Kong.
To deepen our understanding of speech acts in Hong Kong ELT coursebooks, this qualitative and quantitative study examines the following research questions (RQ):
RQ 1: Which speech acts are targeted for instruction in Hong Kong junior secondary 3 ELT coursebooks?
RQ 2: What type of pragmalinguistic description do these coursebooks present?
RQ 3: What type of sociopragmatic description do these coursebooks present?
3 Methodology
This section includes information regarding the research design, data collection instruments, and the analysis of the materials. This study has an exploratory approach. First of all, the coursebooks were selected. Content analysis “is widely used as a device for extracting numerical data from word-based data” (Cohen et al. 2011: 563), so this investigation used relational content analysis. This analysis began with an initial review of the data, and the unit of analysis being decided upon.
3.1 Data Collection Instruments
As stated above, the first step in the methodology was the coursebook selection. As the focus of this study was coursebooks which are commonly used in public schools in Hong Kong at the junior secondary 3 level, six different titles (List of Coursebooks in the References) from the Hong Kong Education Bureau’s recommended textbooks list for the 2022/2023 school year were chosen. All of the coursebooks focused on integrating all four major language skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing).
The coursebooks chosen were all published by Pearson (Hong Kong), which had previously purchased Longman, and Oxford University Press (OUP) China, as their textbooks have traditionally been found to be in use in local schools in Hong Kong (Chan 2021: 735). The coursebooks examined were:
A) Longman Activate (2012)
B) Longman Elect (2012)
C) Longman English Edge (2017)
D) Longman English Spark (2017)
E) New Treasure Plus (2010) (OUP)
F) Oxford English (2010)
Each of the coursebooks had 8 units / chapters / modules split over two books / volumes (3A and 3B). The speech acts targeted for instruction were found mainly in the Grammar, Language (Focus) / Text Analysis, and Task / Integrated Tasks / Practice sections of the coursebooks.
3.2 Analysis
The first task of the data collection was to check the number of pages in each textbook. The data from the textbooks were compared to see if the textbooks had similar formats and structures. The unit of analysis was chosen as the speech acts specifically targeted for instruction in each unit / module / chapter of the coursebooks, usually in the Grammar, Language (Focus) / Text Analysis and Task / Integrated Tasks / Practice sections. A coding scheme from a previous study (Wilson 2023) was reused. The third and fourth units / chapters / modules of the coursebooks were chosen at random and analysed in further detail using pragmatic analysis to examine the pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic information which was presented.
With regard to RQ1 (Which speech acts are targeted for instruction in Hong Kong junior secondary 3 ELT coursebooks?), each speech act (based on Searle’s 1976 model of speech acts) which was explicitly targeted for instruction was recorded. The data were categorised according to definitions of types of speech acts based on commonly accepted categories of speech acts / strategies with reasoning. To give an example, in Unit 1 of Longman English Edge 3A (2017: 1-20), the speech act of advice (a directive speech act) was explicitly targeted for instruction, as a text giving advice on how to be happy and an “advice column” advising how to deal with stress were presented. Furthermore, specific linguistic realisations using modal verbs (such as in “You should count your blessings”) were presented for “giving advice” in the Language section, and accordingly, learners were instructed to “give some advice”. In the Task section, a “letter of advice” was modelled and learners were instructed to “write a letter of advice” of their own. In Unit 2 of the same coursebook (2017: 21-40), suggestions (such as “You could share your favourite ads …”) were clearly targeted.
With respect to RQ2 (What type of pragmalinguistic description do these coursebooks present?), the third and fourth units of each coursebook were analysed in detail to observe the pragmalinguistic information included. The details were recorded for a range of categories and total counts were calculated. These categories the question of whether
the information included focused on producing the speech act in the spoken or the written form (or both),
specific lexical realisations were presented for the speech act,
grammatical formulas were included to complement them,
the speech acts presented were direct, conventionalised indirect, or non-conventionalised indirect,
the speech acts were presented as part of model dialogues or merely as discrete items, and
whether the coursebooks included information on the structure or layout of written texts (including the placement of the speech acts within them).
Regarding RQ3 (What type of sociopragmatic description do these coursebooks present?), the sociopragmatic information was identified and recorded, again from Units 3 and 4 of the coursebooks. This information consisted of:
the number of different contexts used to present the speech acts in
the rank of imposition involved (high, low, or none)
the level of power distance (high, low, or none)
the level of social distance (high, mid, or low), and
any information included regarding whether the interlocutors presented were meant to represent native English speakers or not.
The totals for each category were calculated.
Descriptive statistical analysis was used to convert the qualitative data into quantitative data. Totals for each category were calculated and percentages were formulated. The results of this research with an exploratory approach are presented in the next section.
4 Results
This section contains the results of the analysis performed in answering the three research questions. Figures have been used to present the most significant of the findings.
4.1 Speech Acts Targeted for Instruction
First of all, in this selection of coursebooks, not all of the units focused specifically on speech acts. In those which did, a total of 15 different speech acts were targeted for instruction. Of these, eleven were targeted more than once. As shown in Figure 1 below, the speech acts which were targeted most frequently were advice (seven times), suggestion (six), and persuasion (five). These speech acts were followed by prediction (four times) and regret / reproach (three times):
Figure 1: Most-frequently Targeted Speech Acts
On the other hand, speech acts which were found to be targeted frequently in coursebooks for other levels (Wilson 2023) were not included in this selection. To give examples, the speech acts of thanking and request were not evident here. Similarly to Wilson’s (2023) previous findings on other levels, the speech acts offer and invitation were again not found to be targeted.
As can be seen in Table 1 (Appendix 1 and List of Coursebooks), the total number of speech acts that each coursebook targeted ranged from between two in Longman Activate to the twelve different speech acts in Oxford English, with an average of 7.2 speech acts per coursebook:
Table 1: Speech Acts Targeted by Textbook Title
As Figure 2 below shows, there were more than twice as many instances of directives being targeted than the other categories combined. Oxford English (2010) featured the widest variety of directives (five distinct speech acts), by far the most expressives (five), and multiple representatives (Table 2; Appendix 1 for details). Commissives and declarations were not targeted at all in this selection of coursebooks:
Figure 2. Most-frequently Targeted Speech Acts by Category
Table 2: Speech Act Categories Targeted by Textbook Title
4.2 Pragmatic Description Provided in the Coursebooks
In some cases, Units 3 or 4 of the coursebooks did not specifically focus on speech acts. Of the units which did, the majority focused on having the learners use the respective speech acts in writing (Figure 3 below). All of the units which required the learners to produce speech acts in writing added information on the layout and structure of the texts they were required to write, including the placement of the speech act(s) within that text:
Figure 3: Units requesting learners to produce Speech Acts in Writing / Speaking
All of the units included linguistic realisations for the speech acts that they targeted for instruction. However, as shown in Figure 4 below, less than a third of them included grammatical formulas to complement these:
Figure 4: Grammatical Formulae
To give an example, whereas Unit 4 of Longman English Edge 3A (2017: 70-74) included a variety of modal verbs and adverbs for learners to use to make predictions, Unit 3 (2017: 41-60) did not include any explanations of grammar that they could use to formulate their own ways to persuade people.
There were slightly more instances in which direct speech acts were presented than those in which conventionalised indirect speech acts figured (Figure 5 below). However, non-conventionalised indirect speech acts were not evident in this selection of coursebooks. More than one third of the units contained both direct and conventionalised indirect speech acts:
Figure 5: Direct and Indirect Speech Act Strategies
As shown in Figure 6 below, a mere 15% of the speech acts were shown as part of model dialogues. The remainder were presented as discrete items without responses. For example, in Unit 3 of Longman English Edge 3A (2017: 55-58), learners were instructed to write a blog entry which would persuade readers to help solve a problem, but there were no opportunities for anyone to respond to these attempts at persuasion. Therefore, the speech act of persuasion was merely presented as a discrete item:
Figure 6: Presentation of Speech Acts
All the units which instructed the learners to use speech acts in written texts included information regarding the layout and structure of the texts, often including where and how exactly to include the speech acts in the texts.
4.3 Sociopragmatic Description Provided in the Coursebooks
Sociopragmatic information is also very important when learners need to perform speech acts in English effectively (Flowerdew 2012: 86). All of the units analysed which focused on speech acts included clear contexts for the speech acts presented, but 93% of these only showed them in a single setting (Figure 7). To give an example, in Unit 4 of Longman English Edge 3A (2017: 70-74), the speech act of predictions was presented in the setting of people making guesses about life on Earth in the distant future but not in any other context (such as predicting how the weather will be on the following day, for example):
Figure 7: Number of Settings Presenting Speech Acts
When we use speech acts in our daily lives, we often need to consider issues of power distance and level / rank of imposition to ensure that we perform them appropriately. Failure to do so could potentially have a life-changing effect. However, the majority of the units presented their speech acts in situations that did not involve power distance (Figure 8) or imposition (Figure 9). This could leave learners without enough understanding of exactly how they should perform certain speech acts in particular situations:
Figure 8: Degree of Power Distance between Interlocutors
Figure 9: Level of Imposition
As Figure 10 below shows, there was also a tendency to use situations which only involved low degrees of social distance. Many of the contexts involved the learners using speech acts with each other, and therefore, there was no power distance involved. However, in Unit 3 of Longman English Edge 3A (2017: 55-58), the learners were instructed to write blog entries, which could supposedly be read by anyone on the internet. Therefore, the use of persuasion in those blog entries potentially involved high degrees of both power and social distance. Given that the learners were also encouraged to try and persuade readers to make major changes to their lifestyles, this unit also involved high levels of imposition. On the other hand, in Unit 4 (2017: 75-78) of the same coursebook, the learners were instructed to write feature articles for the school magazine. Therefore, this context involved low degrees of social distance. As the speech act targeted was prediction, there was no level of imposition displayed in Unit 4:
Figure 10: Degree of Social Distance between Interlocutors
In terms of cross-cultural issues, there were no cases in which all of the interlocutors featured in the units were clearly supposed to only represent native English speakers. Some of the interlocutors were clearly representing local Hong Kong students who were likely to be non-native English speakers.
5 Discussion
5.1 Speech Acts Targeted for Instruction
As a place that Kachru (1985: 12) would describe as part of the Outer Circle (where English is one of the official languages), Hong Kong has served as an interesting setting for this study. Even though most of the citizens in Hong Kong speak Cantonese or have other L1s with little in common with the English language, English remains crucial in the region in the domains of government, law, business, and education, partly due to Hong Kong’s history of colonisation (McKay 2018).
In comparison to a previous study on coursebooks for senior secondary and primary 6 levels (Wilson 2023), this study involved fewer coursebook titles (six as opposed to 10), and each title had fewer units (eight each as opposed to an average of twelve). However, the average number of speech acts targeted in each coursebook title was only slightly lower (7.2 as opposed to 7.3). Therefore, in general, it was more common for speech acts to be presented for explicit instruction in the units of this selection of coursebooks than in the coursebooks in the previous study (ibid.). In total, this selection of coursebooks targeted 15 different speech acts. As in the earlier study (ibid.), the speech acts of offer and invitation were again not evident. In both studies, the coursebooks at times tended to concentrate on grammar points or activities which were mainly focused on meeting the requirements of the local syllabus. These included presenting information on using reported speech or (present or past) participle phrases (such as Not knowing how to drive, … or Divided into pairs, …). It is not clear how useful these types of activities would be for performing tasks outside of the classroom in learners’ everyday lives. In contrast to the study of Lam et al. (2014), the speech act of complaint (or responding to it) was only targeted in one unit in this selection of coursebooks. This may be because these speech acts are less relevant to junior secondary 3 students than they are to adult learners.
In terms of Searle’s (1976) five categories of speech acts, directives made up more than half of the speech acts targeted for instruction. This was similar to Ulum’s study (2015) on speech acts in ELT textbooks, where it was also found that directives were featured heavily. Reflecting the findings from Wilson’s earlier study (2023), the directive speech acts of advice, suggestion, and persuasion were again the ones most frequently presented. The Oxford English textbook targeted a total of 12 distinct speech acts for instruction made up of five directives, five expressives, and two representatives.
5.3 Pragmalinguistic Description
In all of the units which targeted speech acts for instruction, linguistic realisations were presented, but in 69% of these units, there was no information regarding the grammatical formulas that learners could use to create their own sentences to perform the speech acts. This was identical to the findings of the previous study on other levels (Wilson 2023). In some cases, the necessary grammar may possibly have been taught at earlier levels. However, this suggests that learners may have been expected to mainly just memorise set expressions rather than truly comprehend the grammar needed to formulate personalised expressions.
There were quite a lot of instances of conventionalised indirect speech acts being presented, but no instances of non-conventionalised indirect ones. This was the major difference in comparison to the previous study (ibid.), with a higher percentage of conventionalised indirect speech acts in this study and a higher percentage of non-conventionalised indirect ones in the previous study. This could be due to the different levels of textbooks (junior secondary 3) used in this investigation.
Learners need to realise how they should lead up to a speech act and certainly how people should respond to them. However, 85% of the speech acts in this investigation were only presented as discrete items, without any useful responses to these speech acts or any additional dialogue being included. This is in sharp contrast to the previous study on coursebooks for other levels, where, in more than half of the units, the speech acts were presented as part of model dialogues (ibid.).
5.4 Sociopragmatic Description
In general, the findings regarding sociopragmatic description compared unfavourably to those of the prior study on other levels (ibid.). The vast majority of the units which targeted speech acts for instruction only presented the speech acts in a single setting or single context. Presenting them in multiple contexts could have shown learners the differences in the ways speech acts can be performed.
Furthermore, most of these contexts included low degrees of social distance and no degree of power distance or level of imposition. This finding suggests that the coursebook writers focused more on purely linguistic input than on the various sociopragmatic factors, such as context, power distance, and level of imposition (Crandall & Basturkmen 2004). This could greatly hinder learners if they need to use the speech acts in contexts which involve high levels of power distance, social distance, or imposition.
5.5 Limitations of the Study
In this study, a range of only six different coursebook titles (with two separate volumes for each) were analysed. On top of that, some of the coursebooks were very similar to each other in terms of their content and the way they were organised. This relatively small sample size may, at least partly, explain some of the differences found between this selection of junior secondary 3 coursebooks and those analysed in the previous study of coursebooks used at other levels (Wilson, 2023).
5.6 Implications for Coursebook Writers and Publishers
It appears that there are improvements that could be made to the way ELT coursebooks are written. If only a smaller selection of expressions is included for any particular speech act, this may lead learners to believe that the ways we can express these speech acts are quite limited. Therefore, coursebook writers should include a variety of linguistic realisations for speech acts, plus sociopragmatic information regarding when to use each one.
Using corpus data to help make the presentation of speech acts as realistic and relevant as possible is one possible way writers could improve their coursebooks in the future (Nguyen 2011). If coursebooks are written based on empirical research, pragmatic knowledge can be shared in a more logical and appropriate fashion (Cohen 2008).
5.7 Pedagogical Implications
It is common for many instructors to tend to make their coursebooks the central part of their lessons (Wette & Barkhuizen 2009). This line of thinking is prevalent among many local teachers in Hong Kong (Wong 2017). Therefore, it is crucial that appropriate coursebooks are selected and used effectively. However, if optimal coursebooks are not available, teachers need to use alternative methods of teaching the effective use of speech acts, such as teaching them explicitly, including the necessary pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic information. The author has personally encountered various learners of English in Hong Kong who seem to be under the impression that certain modal verbs are exclusively associated with particular speech acts. For example, learners have expressed their belief that the modal should is exclusively used for (and even that it is the only way of) giving advice. Therefore, it is necessary for teachers to provide further information regarding speech acts and the different ways they can be performed. Explicit teaching of pragmalinguistic forms of the target language tends to be more efficient than focusing on input alone (Schmidt 1993).
6 Conclusion
The selection of coursebooks analysed in this paper was found to have a reasonably high rate of targeting speech acts for instruction. However, there was a tendency to present certain speech acts (such as advice or suggestion) much more frequently than others (such as complaint or expressing preference). Other speech acts (such as thanking or request), however, were not included at all. In comparison to a previous study on coursebooks for levels other than those analysed here (Wilson 2023), there was a reasonably high rate of conventionalised indirect speech acts targeted in these junior secondary 3 coursebooks. However, the rate of presenting the speech acts as part of model dialogues was particularly low. In general, the number of settings used in the coursebooks was very limited, and there were few which incorporated the concepts of power distance or levels of imposition.
The writers of junior secondary 3 coursebooks may consider these issues when writing future editions. Teachers will seemingly need to continue to adapt their teaching to ensure that their learners improve their abilities to use speech acts in English. If there is a concerted effort to improve the way speech acts are presented to language learners, then progress in this field can continue to be made.
Appendix
Coding Scheme
References
Austin, J. L. (1962). How to Do Things with Words. London: Oxford University Press.
Bardovi-Harlig, Kathleen (2001). Evaluating the Empirical Evidence: Grounds for Instruction in Pragmatics? In: Rose, Kenneth R. & Gabriele Kasper (eds.). Pragmatics in Language Teaching. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1-11.
Basturkmen, Helen & Thi T. M. Nguyen (2017). Teaching Pragmatics. In: Barron, Anne, Yueguo Guo & Gerard Steen (eds.). The Routledge Handbook of Pragmatics. London, England: Routledge, 563-574.
Bouton, Lawrence F. (1993). Conversational Implicature in a Second Language: Learned Slowly when not Explicitly Taught. In: Journal of Pragmatics 22, 157-167.
Boxer, Diana & Lucy Pickering (1995). Problems in the Presentation of Speech Acts in ELT Materials: The Case of Complaints. In: ELT Journal 49 (1), 44-58.
Chan, Jim Y. H. (2021). Four Decades of ELT Development in Hong Kong: Impact of Global Theories on the Changing Curricula and Textbooks. In: Language Teaching Research 25 (5), 729-753.
Cheng, Winnie & Martin Warren (2007). Checking Understandings: Comparing Textbooks and a Corpus of Spoken English in Hong Kong. In: Language Awareness 16 (3), 190-207.
Cheng, Winnie & Pang Cheng (2010). Correcting Others and Self-correction in Business and Professional Discourse and Textbooks. In: Trosborg, Anna (ed.). Pragmatics across Languages and Cultures. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 443-466.
Cohen, Andrew D. (1996). Developing the Ability to Use Speech Acts. In: Studies in Second Language Acquisition 18, 253-267.
Cohen, Andrew D. (2008). Teaching and Assessing L2 Pragmatics: What Can We Expect from Learners? In: Language Teaching 41 (2), 213-235.
Cohen, Louis, Lawrence Manion & Keith Morrison (2011). Research Methods in Education. Abingdon, England: Routledge.
Compernolle, Remi A. van (2014). Sociocultural Theory and Instructed L2 Pragmatics. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
Crandall, Elizabeth & Helen Basturkmen (2004). Evaluating Pragmatics-focused Materials. In: ELT Journal 58 (1), 38-49.
Diepenbroek, Lori G. & Tracey M. Derwing (2013). To What Extent Do Popular ESL Textbooks Incorporate Oral Fluency and Pragmatic Development? In: TESL Canada Journal 30 (7), 1-20.
Economidou-Kogetsidis, Maria (2015). Teaching Email Politeness in the EFL/ESL Classroom. In: ELT Journal 69(4), 415-424.
Flowerdew, John (2012). Discourse in English Language Education. London: Routledge.
Gray, Chris, Rachel Jones, Ella Hall, & Thomas Gordon. (2009). Primary Longman Elect. Hong Kong: Pearson Education Asia.
Jalilian, Mahdieh & Ali Roohani (2016). Evaluating Speech Acts in ELT Textbooks: The Case of Compliments and Complaints in the Touchstone Series. In: IJRELT, 101-114.
Kachru, Braj (1985). The Alchemy of English. Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press.
Kasper, Gabriele & Shoshana Blum-Kulka. (1993). Interlanguage Pragmatics. New York: Oxford University Press.
Lam, Phoenix W. Y., Winnie Cheng & Kenneth C. C. Kong. (2014). Learning English through Workplace Communication: An Evaluation of Existing Resources in Hong Kong. In: English for Specific Purposes 34, 68-78.
Lee, Cynthia (2018). Researching and Teaching Second Language Speech Acts in the Chinese Context. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore.
Limberg, Holger (2016). Teaching How to Apologize: EFL Textbooks and Pragmatic Input. In: Language Teaching Research 20 (6), 700-718.
Lin, Ming-Fang, Miao-Hsia Chang, and Yu-Fang Wang (2019). “How Dare You Have Another Relationship!”: An Analysis of Cross-cultural and Interlanguage Corrections. In: International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 59 (4), 449-489.
McKay, Sandra Lee (2018). English as an International Language: What It Is and What It Means for Pedagogy. In: RELC Journal 49(1), 9-23.
Nguyen, Thi T. M. (2011). Learning to Communicate in a Globalized World: To Extent Do School Textbooks Facilitate the Development of Intercultural Pragmatic Competence? In: RELC Journal 42 (1), 17-30.
Nguyen, Thi T. M. & Helen Basturkmen (2021). Pragmatic Teaching Materials in EIL. In: Tajeddin, Z. & Minoo Alemi (eds.). Pragmatics Pedagogy in English as an International Language. Oxford: Routledge, 136-154.
Paltridge, Brian (2012). Discourse Analysis. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
Ren, Wei & Zhengrui Han (2016). The Representation of Pragmatic Knowledge in Recent ELT Textbooks. In: ELT Journal 70 (4), 424-434. (DOI: 10.1093/elt/ccw010; ; 18-09-2023).
Roever, Carsten (2014). Research Pragmatics. In: Paltridge, Brian & Aek Phakiti (eds.). Research Methods in Applied Linguistics: A Practical Resource. London, England: Bloomsbury, 295-306.
Schmidt, Richard W. (1990). The Role of Consciousness in Second Language Learning. In: Applied Linguistics 11 (2), 129–158.
Schmidt, Richard W. (1993). Consciousness, Learning and Interlanguage Pragmatics. In: Kasper, Gabriele & Shoshana Blum-Kulka (eds.). Interlanguage Pragmatics. New York: Oxford University Press, 21-42.
Searle, John R. (1975). Indirect Speech Acts. In: Cole, Peter & Jerry L. Morgan (eds.). Syntax and Semantics Volume 3: Speech Acts. New York: Academic Press, 59–82.
Searle, John R. (1976). A Classification of Illocutionary Acts. In: Language in Society 5 (1), 1-23.
Seigel, Joseph, James Broadbridge & Mark Firth (2018). Saying It Just Right: Teaching for Pragmatic Success in ELT. In: ELT Journal, 1-10.
Taguchi, Naoko & Carsten Roever (2017). Second Language Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ulum, Omer G. (2015). Pragmatic Elements in EFL Course Books. In: Western Anatolia Journal of Educational Science, 93-106.
Wette, Rosemary & Gary Barkhuizen. (2009). Teaching the Book and Educating the Person: Challenges for University English Language Teachers in China. In: Asia Pacific Journal of Education 29 (2), 195-212. (DOI: 10.1080/02188790902857180; ; 18-09-2023).
Wilson, Liam D. (2023). Investigating the Coverage of Speech Acts in Hong Kong ELT Textbooks. In: Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching [e-FLT] 20 (1), 50-73. (DOI: 10.56040/lmdw2014; 18-09-2023).
List of Coursebooks
(E) Hardingham Cole, Jennifer & Jennifer Neale (2010). New Treasure Plus. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press (China).
(B) Harfitt, Gary, John Potter, Sarah Rigby, & Kitty Wong (2012). Longman Elect (2nd ed.). Hong Kong: Longman Hong Kong Education; Pearson Education Asia.
(F) Hughes, Daisy & Mabel Woo (2010). Oxford English. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press (China).
(A) Nelson, Jo Ann, John Potter, Sarah Rigby, & Kitty Wong (2012). Longman Activate. Hong Kong: Longman Hong Kong Education; Pearson Education Asia.
(C) Potter, John, Sarah Rigby, & Kitty Wong (2017). Longman English Edge. Hong Kong: Longman Hong Kong Education; Pearson Education Asia.
(D) Potter, John, Sarah Rigby, & Kitty Wong (2017). Longman English Spark. Hong Kong: Longman Hong Kong Education; Pearson Education Asia.
Author:
Liam D. Wilson
Assistant Lecturer
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Sha Tin
Hong Kong S.A.R.
Email: mr.liam.wilson@gmail.com